Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

First Edition: January 29, 2015

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.

Kaiser Health News:
With Half of California’s Kids On Medicaid, Advocates Worry About Service
California’s Medi-Cal program has grown to cover nearly half of the state’s children, causing policymakers and child advocates to question the ability of the taxpayer-funded program to adequately serve so many poor kids. In the past two years alone, the program has added nearly 1 million young people up to age 20, including those newly eligible for Medi-Cal coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The increase brings the total number of young people on Medi-Cal to 5.2 million, more than ever before. (Ostrov, 1/29)

The Wall Street Journal:
Up To Six Million Households Facing Penalty For Skipping Health Insurance
About 150 million taxpayers are expected to file returns during the coming tax season, said Mark Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury Department. The tax-filing process this year is expected to be trickier because Americans will, in some cases, have to pay a penalty or get smaller refunds because credits they received to offset insurance premiums were too large. Up to 20% of tax filers—or about 30 million—who weren’t insured for most or any of last year likely will request and receive an exemption from the penalty, officials said. Many exemptions can be applied for during the tax-filing process. (Armour, 1/28)

The Washington Post:
Health Insurers May Be Finding New Ways To Discriminate Against Patients
One of the greatest promises of the Affordable Care Act is that if you are sick or get sick, health insurers can no longer charge you more or avoid covering you altogether. They have to provide coverage to anyone who wants it, and they're not allowed to cherry pick healthier customers over sick customers. But patient groups say they've spotted an alarming trend of some health insurance plans designing drug benefits to purposefully keep out sicker, costlier patients. It's currently the subject of a federal complaint, and a new study offers evidence this is happening across the country. (Millman, 1/28)

The Associated Press:
Study: Insurers May Using Drug Costs To Discriminate
Insurance companies, perhaps more than previously thought, may be charging the sickest patients extra for drugs under the federal health law, in an effort to discourage them from choosing certain plans, according to a study released Wednesday. One of the cornerstones of President Obama's signature health law forbids insurance companies from turning away people with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or cancer. Yet hundreds of patient advocacy groups say insurance companies have found a way to discriminate against these people, who are more expensive to cover because they require life-long treatments. (Kennedy, 1/28)

The New York Times:
Study Finds H.I.V. Drugs Priced Out Of Reach
Drugs to treat H.I.V. and AIDS are being priced out of reach for many patients enrolled in insurance plans through the new health care exchanges, despite warnings that such practices are illegal under the Obama administration’s health care law, according to a new analysis by Harvard researchers. (Thomas, 1/28)

Politico:
Red States See Insurance Rise Despite Obamacare Opposition
Recalcitrant red states have done little — or nothing — to promote Obamacare. Yet their residents are getting health coverage by the millions. Across the country, efforts to resist or undermine the law persist. Calls for repeal haven’t died down. Most of the states with Republicans in control aren’t running their own insurance exchanges, but their residents are still getting covered and still getting subsidies — unless the Supreme Court in an upcoming case rules that the subsidies are illegal in states using healthcare.gov. (Pradhan, 1/29)

The Washington Post:
Supreme Court Case On Key Obamacare Provision Takes Up This Senator’s Account
The challengers in the latest Supreme Court battle over the Affordable Care Act point to former Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson as evidence of their claim that Congress intended that tax credits go only to qualified recipients in states that had established their own insurance exchanges. Nelson, a Democratic holdout as Congress debated the bill, insisted that states take the lead in establishing the exchanges. And the challengers use that to support their theory that Congress was using the tax credits to induce states into establishing the exchanges, rather than having the federal government do it. But Nelson, who announced his retirement in 2011, speaks for himself in a brief filed by Democratic congressional leaders and others. (Barnes, 1/28)

The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog:
Obama Lawyers: House Has No Right To Sue The President
Lawyers for the White House are urging a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Republican-led House of Representatives that alleges President Barack Obama illegally rewrote the new health law. The president in public comments has attacked the lawsuit as a stunt, but a court brief drafted by a team of Department of Justice lawyers marks the first time the White House has articulated to a judge why the case shouldn’t be heard. (Gershman, 1/28)

Los Angeles Times:
Covered California Renewal Rate Tops 90%
California officials say more than 90 percent of Obamacare customers renewed their policy for 2015, but the state still faces an uphill climb to reach its goal of 1.7 million enrolled before next month's sign-up deadline. The state's insurance exchange reported renewal figures for the first time Wednesday along with an update on new enrollment. (Terhune, 1/28)

The Washington Post:
Wyoming Headed Toward Medicaid Expansion
Lawmakers in Wyoming are working toward an agreement that would allow the state to accept hundreds of millions of federal dollars to expand the state’s Medicaid program. Members of the Republican-dominated legislature will meet Wednesday to craft a compromise between two competing measures that would allow an estimated 17,600 low-income Wyoming residents to gain coverage. (Wilson, 1/28)

The Associated Press:
Panel Unanimously OKs Bill Easing Employee Health Care Count
In a rare show of bipartisanship over President Barack Obama's health care law, a Senate committee voted unanimously Wednesday to exclude veterans from the 50-worker threshold that triggers required coverage for employees under that statute. The Senate Finance Committee vote was 26-0, a departure from the usual party-line fights over Obama's showcase 2010 law. (Fram, 1/28)

The New York Times:
As New Leadership Takes Over In Washington, Fiscal Battles Resurface
Division in Washington is nothing new, but gridlock and inaction seems not to be an option this year. A series of fiscal showdowns will be coming, starting with an end to Department of Homeland Security funding on Feb. 28, a sharp cut in physician payments under Medicare on March 31, the depletion of the highway trust fund on May 31, a debt-ceiling showdown this summer or fall and the return of across-the-board mandatory cuts known as sequestration on Oct. 1. (Weisman, 1/28)

The Associated Press:
Anthem Raises Dividend Almost 43%, Tops 4Q Forecasts
Anthem has hiked its quarterly cash payout to shareholders by nearly 43 percent to keep up with its rising stock price after edging past Wall Street forecasts for the recently completed fourth quarter. ... Investors have been warming up to health insurance stocks for a few years now after watching the sector weather taxes, fees and other changes brought by the health care overhaul, the massive federal law that aims to cover millions of uninsured people. They now see much less uncertainty ahead for the industry. (1/28)

The Wall Street Journal's Pharmalot:
Battle Over Medicare Part D Rebates Begins Ahead Of Obama Budget
Nearly 400 organizations, including a coalition whose members include the pharmaceutical industry and insurers, have written an open letter to the U.S. House of Representatives to warn against forcing drug makers to give Medicare rebates to low-income beneficiaries. Led by the Council for Affordable Health Coverage, the coalition missive arrives shortly before the Obama administration releases its annual budget, anticipating that the White House will again seek to propose mandated Medicare Part D rebates. In the fiscal year 2015 budget proposal, the administration forecast that such rebates could save $117 billion over 10 years. (Silverman, 1/28)

Los Angeles Times:
Measles Outbreak: At Least 95 Cases In Eight States And Mexico
The California-centered measles outbreak has spread to Michigan, as the number of cases climbed to 95 in eight states and Mexico, officials said Wednesday. The California Department of Public Health confirmed that there are now 79 cases in the state, of which 52 can be linked directly to Disneyland. Some people who were contagious visited in January as well as December. (Xia, 1/28)

The Washington Post:
Arizona Tracking Up To 1,000 Potentially Exposed To California-Linked Measles Virus
The measles outbreak that originated in California’s Disneyland has now spread to seven people in Arizona, with up to 1,000 people in the state potentially exposed to the disease, including nearly 200 children. According to public health authorities, there are now 79 confirmed cases in California, 52 that have been linked to Disneyland. In addition to Arizona, cases have been reported in Colorado, Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah and Washington state — all connected to California, according to state health officials. (Bever, 1/29)

The Wall Street Journal:
States Work To Strike Deals For Hep C Drug Discounts
The battle for market share in the booming business for hepatitis C drugs is shifting to state Medicaid programs, which are busy negotiating discounts and supply deals with pharmaceutical companies. Missouri and Connecticut are among the states that are either negotiating or securing discounts on expensive new hepatitis C drugs in exchange for making them the preferred options for their state’s Medicaid recipients. (Loftus, 1/28)